Host a missionary

Native missionaries are bearers of God’s love. So if you would like to become more loving, spend time with a missionary. They are also people of great faith. So if you would like your faith to grow, spend time with a missionary. They see the lost world with the eyes of our Father, looking for His lost sheep. If you’d like to see what God is doing in the world, spend time with a missionary. Native missionaries love children, just like Jesus did. So if you want your children impacted for Christ, spend time with a missionary.

We encourage you to invite one of our visiting native missionaries to your home, and to gather your community and share the experience. Here are some ideas:

invite your friends and family over for a meal with you and your visiting missionary

ask your small group leader if your visiting missionary can share during the next group meeting

gather your children and their friends to learn about and see photos of life in another country

host a coffee or dessert gathering at your home, and pray together with your visiting missionary

invite your visiting missionary to join your regular breakfast group or other activity

bless your visiting missionary by taking him or her for a fun outing with your family

There’s no doubt that our family’s love for missions has grown over the years because of our interaction with native missionaries… There’s no comparison to having one of these precious servants actually reside in your home for a few days.

When first asked to host a missionary for a weekend, we were hesitant. After all, we lived in a small house with five children and no extra rooms. As my husband and I “moved” into our daughters’ room in order to provide our bedroom and adjoining bath to our visitor, I remember being nervous. Would our guest feel welcomed?

We warned our kids to “be polite” and give him space, but you know how children can be. As soon as the missionary took a seat in our living room, he was surrounded by five young faces peering up at him. Gathered around his feet, they listened to story after story…and they have been listening to the heart of missions ever since. That man later told us how touched he was by the children’s attention and by the fact that we had given up our own bedroom. The very things with which we were most concerned turned out to mean the most to this precious brother.

Since that day, the doors of our hearts and our home have been flung wide open to welcome God’s representatives from various nations. For the past several years, we have been blessed to love these new friends and introduce them to others as we see God’s hand intertwining lives and grafting hearts across the globe. It’s even more special when the hearts involved belong to our own children.

Our youngest daughter has been especially drawn to our visitors, and they have seemed quite taken with her, too. She always insists on being photographed with them so she can add to her “collection” of missionary photos in order to remember and pray for them. We may not have the capacity to physically reach the unreached in other nations, but by hosting missionaries and encouraging them with our love and prayers, we know we are making a difference. One precious life at a time.– Barbara, Ohio